Q (Ben Whishaw)
Q (standing for Quartermaster), like M, is a job title rather than a name. He is the head of Q Branch, the fictional research and development division of the British Secret Service. Q returns to the franchise in 2012's Skyfall after being absent in Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. He is portrayed by Ben Whishaw, who was aged 31 as of 2012, marking the first time that an actor playing Q was younger than the one playing Bond. Film biography 007 first meets his new Quartermaster at the National Gallery in London under M's orders since Q Branch hasn't finished setting up. While waiting, a young man sits down beside Bond and engages him in polite conversation about the painting he appears to be studying - The Fighting Temeraire by English artist J. M. W. Turner. Asked what he sees in the painting, Bond dismissively replies "a big boat." As 007 attempts to excuse himself, the man reveals that he is the new Quartermaster, much to Bond's amusement. After mocking the Quartermaster for his youthful appearance, the boffin hazards that he "can do more damage on his laptop in his pyjamas than Bond can do in a year in the field." Commenting on 007's usefulness to MI6 he admits that "every now and again a trigger needs to be pulled." Bond quips, "Or not pulled. It's hard to know which in your pyjamas." The two formally acknowledge one another and exchange a friendly handshake, a mutual respect between the pair forming. He then hands Bond the ticket to Shanghai and his new field equipment: a biometrically-encoded Walther PPK (coded to Bond's palm-prints) and a radio transmitter for tracing Bond's whereabouts in the field. 007 is rather underwhelmed by his new equipment, causing Q to retort "Were you expecting an exploding pen? We don't really go in for those anymore." Standing up to leave, Q wishes Bond luck and to return the equipment in one piece. Q is afraid of flying as mentioned by Eve Moneypenny when she arrives in Bond's hotel room in Macau. After Bond arrested Silva, M orders Q to try and check his computer. Trying to break the code, proved to be difficult as Q quips that it's "like trying to solve a Rubik's cube that is fighting back." Bond soon tells him to stop and discovers a series of words which spell out 'Grandbrough', that is an old tube station. Seeing the doors open, Bond realises Silva got into the system and runs to the detainment cell. Seeing a hacking warning, Q angrily yells to his techs to ask him how he got into the system. Seeing a message on the laptop, Q quickly tries to unplug it, but was too late and realises that Silva hacked them. Getting contact from 007 while he was in pursuit of Silva, Q provided directions and found that getting caught was part of Silva's plan so he can escape. He soon quickly identifies Silva, disguised as a cop and has Bond get on the train as it departs. Upon being told that Silva is after M, Q messages Tanner during the inquiry to get her out, but she refuses to rudely leave. Quotes Oh shit, shit, shit, shit. He hacked us. - ''Q when he realises Silva hacked into MI6's mainframe to escape. ''Were you expecting an exploding pen? We don't really go for those anymore Category:Film characters Category:Skyfall characters Category:Allies Category:Spectre characters